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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Caterpillar Inc.
(cat)
said Wednesday it'll accelerate its first-quarter dividend payment to Dec. 31, "because of the uncertainty about U.S. tax policy." The Peoria, Ill., maker of bulldozers and other earth-moving equipment said the move could save its stockholders about $30 million.

10:54AM

Two Deutsche Bank executives named in probe
(
DBDBK
)
by Steve Gelsi

NEW YORK (MarketWawtch) -- Deutsche Bank AG
(db)
(de:dbk)
said Wednesday management board members Jurgen Fitschen and Stefan Krause are the subject of a 2010 probe into trading in carbon emission certificates. The two executives "are involved in the investigations as they signed the value-added tax statement for 2009," the bank said in a statement. "The bank corrected this a long time ago voluntarily." The Frankfurt public prosecutor's office conducted searches of Deutsche Bank's premises, the company said. "Unlike the public prosecutor's office, Deutsche Bank is of the opinion that this correction took place in due time," the bank said. Fitschen serves as co-CEO and Krause is chief financial officer.

10:52AM

Birth rates, migration expected to drop: Censusby Steve Goldstein

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The population is expected to grow much more slowly over the next several decades as both the levels of births and net international migration fall. The nation's total population would cross the 400 million mark in 2051, reaching 420.3 million in 2060, according to the projection. The older population would represent just over one in five U.S. residents by 2060, up from one in seven today. The non-Hispanic white population is projected to peak in 2024, at 199.6 million, up from 197.8 million in 2012. Unlike other racial or ethnic groups, however, its population is projected to slowly decrease, falling by nearly 20.6 million from 2024 to 2060. The Hispanic population meanwhile would more than double, from 53.3 million in 2012 to 128.8 million in 2060. The U.S. is projected to become a majority-minority nation for the first time in 2043.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Oil futures pared gains Wednesday after the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported a modest increase in crude supplies, along with a bigger-than-expected jump in gasoline inventories for the week ended Dec. 7. Crude supplies rose by 800,000 barrels. Analysts polled by Platts expected a 2.5 million-barrel decline. Motor gasoline supplies climbed by 5 million barrels, while distillate stocks added 3 million barrels, the EIA report said. Analysts had forecast a rise of 2.5 million barrels for gasoline inventories and a climb of 1.25 million barrels in distillate supplies. Following the latest data, January crude
(clf3)
traded at $86.53 a barrel, up 74 cents, or 0.9%. It was trading around $86.87 ahead of the report. The American Petroleum Institute reported late Tuesday that crude supplies rose 4.3 million barrels last week.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Morgan Stanley upped its price target on Netflix Inc.
(nflx)
to $105 from $80 on Wednesday morning. In a note before the opening bell, analyst Scott Devitt kept his overweight, or buy, rating on the stock, citing his belief that the online movie provider is "on course to potentially disrupt the long-standing premium cable ecosystem." Devitt said the deal the company announced last week with the Walt Disney Co.
(dis)
"is meaningful in that it is Netflix's second output deal with a major film studio as well as the fact that it is Disney, one of the most successful film franchises." He added the prediction that the deal "may open the door for Netflix to sign additional direct output deals with other studios." Netflix shares were up 1% to $86.95 in early trades. Redbox
(cstr)
and Verizon
(vz)
also announced plans early to launch a beta version of a previously announced movie streaming service that will compete with Netflix.

09:59AM

Berkshire buys back $1.2 bln in stock
(
BRK.ABRK.B
)
by Steve Gelsi

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
(brka)
(brkb)
said Wednesday it bought 9,200 of its Class A shares for $131,000 per share from the estate of a long-time shareholder, whom the Omaha, Neb., holding company did not name. Berkshire's Class A shares and Class B shares both rose about 1.7% on the heels of the announcement, after trading was halted on the New York Stock Exchange. Berkshire Hathaway, which is controlled by billionaire Warren Buffett, said the company's board of directors authorized the purchase "coincident with raising the price limit for repurchases to 120% of book value." Berkshire said it may buy additional shares in the market or through direct offerings at no more than 120% of book value.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Shares of Intel Corp.
(intc)
and Advanced Micro Devices
(amd)
rallied to lead the tech sector higher early Wednesday. Intel was up 1.5% at $20.96, emerging as one of the top gainers on the Dow Jones Industrial Average
(djia)
which was up 40 points. The chipmaker on Tuesday announced a new Atom chip for micro-servers aimed at the lucrative data center market. AMD also rose 2% to $2.38. The Nasdaq Composite Index gained 10 points to stand at 3,032. On the downside, shares of Seagate Technology
(stx)
shed 3% to $27.86. J.P. Morgan cut the stock's rating to underweight from neutral, citing potentially slower growth in the hard disk drive market.

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